Half to william o



No.6l3,890; Patented Nov. 8, l8 98.;

' S. J. SIMMONS.

GARMENT CLASP.

(Applibation filed. Dec. 2a, 1897.)

(No Model.)

Jnvenzor .3 L4W witnesses.-

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL J. SIMMONS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM O. SIMMONS, OF SAME PLACE.

GARMENT-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,890, dated November 8, 1898.

Ap lication filed December 23, 1897. Serial No. 663,162- (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. SIMMoNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bos ton, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Clasps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention consists in a simple, practical, and convenient garment-clasp of novel and improved character and construction, admitting of being manufactured readily and economically.

The invention will be described first with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated the best embodiments thereof which I have yet contrived, after which the distinguishing characteristics of the invention will be particularly pointed out and distinctly defined in the claims at th close of this specification. a

Figure 1 of the drawings is a perspective of one embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a view showing a similar embodiment in front elevation, but with different provisions for attachment to its support. Fig. 3 is an edge view of the embodiment that is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a View showing in front elevation another embodiment of the invention.

My clasp comprises, essentially, a body 1 and a bail or retainer 2. The said bail or retainer is connected with the said body in a manner which enables it to swing frontward from the said body to enable the fabric or the like which is to be held to be introduced into place between the jaws or interengaging portions of the body and the bail or retainer and to enable it also to be swung back into its normal position. The dotted-line position of the bail or retainer in Fig. 3 shows the same carried forward from the body for the admission of the fabric, as just referred to. The full lines in the various figures show the parts in their normal and engaged relation.

The body 1 is suitably constructed for connection with the article of wearing-apparel or other article which is to constitute a support therefor. The body 1 is formed with a jaw,

as at 3, for engagement with the fabric, and the swinging bail or retainer 2 likewise is formed with an engaging portion or jaw, as

at 4, coacting with the said jaw 3. The bail or retainer has at the opposite sides thereof spring-arms, which at their upper or free extremities are engaged loosely with guides, as 5 5,'with which the body 1 is provided. The loose connection of the arms of the bail or retainer with the said guides permits the bail or retainer to swing from the f ull-line position of Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4 into the dotted-line position of Fig. 3 and back again into the said full-line position. The guides 5 5 are oppositely inclined, as shown, the object of which is to compel the bail or retainer to move endwise-that is to say, in the direction of the length of the claspwhen the arms are caused to move simultaneously either toward or from each other. Compression of the said arms toward each other by hand is intended to occasion endwise movement of the bail or retainer 2, such as will carry the jaw or engaging portion 4 of the said bail or retainer longitudinally away from the jaw 3 of the body 1, disengaging these two portions from each other and, should the fabric have been previously in place between them, freeing the said fabric. The spring action of the arms causes them on being freed from the compression to expand or move away from each other along the guides, thereby causing them automatically to produce endwise movement of the bail orretainer in the opposite direction to that movement thereof which was produced by the compression of the arms, and thereby causing the jaw or engaging portion 4 to be moved toward the jaw 2, so as to clamp the fabric if it has been introduced into proper position between the two.

Preferably I form the body 1 of a piece of sheet metal stamped into the desired shape. I usually give to the said piece of metal a substantially T shape, as shown. The said body is formed or provided at its head with 95 some means of attaching it to the article with which it is connected in use. Figs. 1 and 4 are intended to represent clasps adapted for use as stocking-supporters. To this end the head of the body 1 is formed with a trans- Ioe verse slot 6 for the passage therethrough of a supporting band or tape or the like. Figs. 2 and 3 are intended to illustrate the adaptation of the clasp for use as a skirt-supporter, and to this end the head of the body 1 is shown formed with a projection constituting a hook, as '7, to engage with a belt or to enter a slit in a waist, corset, or the like. The guides 5 5 are produced in the case of the illustrated embodiments of the invention by forming slots in the head of the T-shaped body 1, as shown, these slots being of suflicient length to provide for the lateral play or movement of the two arms of the bail or retainer 2, which is required in order to occasion the endwise movement of the said bail or retainer relatively to the body. These slots have the necessary slant or obliquity to give an endwise movement of the required extent to the bail or retainer, and they are oppositely inclined or divergent, in order that as the arms are compressed toward each other the said slots may act simultaneously in occasioning the movement of the bail or retainer in one direction and that when the said arms are relieved from pressure and allowed to expand or separate the said slots may act simultaneously to occasion a movement of the bail or retainer in the other direction. Preferably I form the bail or retainer of a suitable length of spring-wire bent into substantially U shape, with its arms flaring or separating from each other somewhat at their free extremities and with the said extremities passed through the slots and bent upon themselves or headed down, so as to prevent them from becoming disengaged. The best results are secured by coiling upon itself the wires of which the bail or retainer is composed at or adjacent to the transverse portion or bend in the wire which constitutes the lower end of the bail or retainer. This brings into play to the best advantage and most completely the resiliency of the wire. Thus in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 I have shown the wire as formed into an elliptical or transverselyelongated coil of moderate proportions, the upper portion of the said coil constituting the engaging portion or jaw 4, which coacts with the jaw 3 on the body 1. In Fig. 4 I

have shown a small turn or coil in the wire composing the bail or retainer at each side of the engaging portion of the said bail or retainer, which coacts with the jaw 3 of the body 1.

The jaw 3 of the body 1 preferablyis formed integral with the said body, and in the present instance it is formed by bending over the extreme portion of the stem of the said body that is to say, the lower end of the said bodyso as to produce a substantially U-shaped jaw, into which the fabric that is to be held is forced by the jaw or engaging portion 4 of the bail or retainer. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the arrangement of the guides 5 5 and of the jaws 3 and 4 is such that the expanding movement of the spring-arms of the bail or retainer draws the bail or retainer upward and forces the fabric from below into the opening on the under side of the jaw 3. The compression of the said jaws toward each other forces the bail or retainer downward. In Fig. 4 the reverse is the casethat is to say, when the spring-arms of the bail or retainer expand they operate to force the bail or retainer downwardly, so as to press the fabric from above into the hollow on the upper side of the jaw or retainer 3, and when the said arms are compressed toward each other the bail or retainer is drawn upwardly.

It will be obvious that various changes may be made in the form and construction of my clasp without involving a departure from the principle of the invention, and that the clasp is applicable to a great variety of uses.

I claim as my invention- 1. The improved clasp comprising the body provided with oppositely-inclined guides and the jaw for the fabric, and the swinging retainer to compress the fabric against the said jaw,having spring-arms with the ends thereof loosely engaged with said guides, whereby by movement of the said arms toward and from each other along said guides endwise move- 'ment of the said retainer is caused.

2. The improved clasp comprising the bodyplate provided with the oppositely-inclined guides and with a jaw for engagement with the fabric, and the swinging retainer to compress the fabric against the said jaw, formed of wire coiled upon itself, substantially as described, and having the ends of its arms engaged loosely with the said guides, whereby by movement of the said arms toward and from each other along the said guides endwise movement of the said retainer is occasioned.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL J. SIMMONS.

WVitnesses:

WILLIAM O. SIMMoNs, CHAS. F. RANDALL. 

